[ba] Comments on 19 year old 5 cylinder bottom end?

[audion]

Hey folks,

I have probably about 150-200K on my 82 Coupe (the odometer stopped back in
the 80s). Probably 75% of those miles were run on RedLine oil and the rest
on decent Dino multi.

I'm pretty easy on all my vehicles having a adopted a smooth and steady
approach as opposed to the "stomp this pedal, now stomp that pedal" style I
see some drivers have. That means I got 15 years out of the original clutch
even though 7 of those years were in San Francisco.

Anyway, I do most of my own work and  my cars/bikes hold up well (24+ years
& 50,000 miles on Norton Commandos without a breakdown).

I asked the mechanic I sometimes use about doing a valve job and his comment
was that he would be concerned that the bottom wouldn't like the extra power
coming back (I'm guessing 20 HP back up close to the stock figure).

He's a cracker-jack Porsche guy but only works on my Coupe because he used
to work on my Volks aircooled motor. He doesn't have that much Audi
experience.

Any comments? I've heard/read that the 5 cylinder bottom end will go forever
if treated well but that's all second hand hearsay to me.

I'd like to think along the lines of putting a later model head/cam on it as
I've read of that mod/update online and it sounds like a good way to go. I
know that it is supposed to bump the HP up over the stock figure and I think
I'd probably like that.

But I DO NOT want to open a can of worms, as the car goes reasonably well
(and I get my go-fasty out of my system on 2 wheels) . But I'm considering
putting some $$ into it and thinking of it as my "keeper" so some engine
modes/updates need to be considered.

Thanks for any feedback/comments and have a Happy New Year.

M./

--
My dad's lifelong credo was;

"I spend all my money on booze, broads and bikes.
  And anything I have left over I waste."

I regret that I have done such a poor job of following
his sensible example.